By Rev. Kevin Baxter
With joy, the Church on the Hill (Boston Society of the New Jerusalem) is pleased to announce that on November 24, 2024, the Boston Society of the New Jerusalem rejoined the Massachusetts New Church Union, and with it the General Convention of the New Jerusalem!
The church left the denomination twenty years ago due to internal struggles, which ultimately led to the FBI and the Treasury Department raiding the church in 2013. After the raid, the church was not sure how it was going to survive. A dedicated group of people kept the ship afloat and it endured. It took four years to stabilize and deal with the fallout of the raid, and in 2017 they called new clergy leadership.
Rev. Colin Leitch, who had been preaching at the Boston Church, was called as the senior pastor. Rev. Kevin Baxter was called as the assistant pastor. While Rev. Leitch was not a Swedenborgian, there was an odd agreement made from the start. Rev. Leitch would serve as senior pastor for two and a half years, after which Rev. Baxter would assume the senior pastor role as its new settled pastor. Rev. Leitch would then continue for a period after the transition.
Over those years, the pastors and the congregation worked together to plot a new course forward and fix some of the issues that had arisen during difficult times. While they are not all fixed yet, the church has made great headway! Creating new Swedenborgian handouts, bible studies, and talks has been a key aspect of the church’s re-affiliation.
Rev. Baxter also used opportunities to introduce the members of the church to the larger Swedenborgian world. Restarting the tradition of Swedenborg’s Birthday Party, Rev. Baxter invited people to come and talk about Swedenborg and his influence and to attend events like concerts and Christmas Eve services at other area Swedenborgian Churches. The church even managed to make a couple of trips up to the Fryeburg New Church Assembly, where it was able to meet and hear Rev. George McCurdy—who was a former pastor of the church! A handful of folks attended the Massachusetts Convention 2023, and even the president of the congregation ventured out to Michigan in 2024.
One of the greatest events was hosting a SPLATz (Super Powered Lovable Almost Teens) retreat in downtown Boston (Fall 2022). Kurt Fekete and the kids were introduced to the congregation before the retreat ended. President Rev. Dr. Jim Lawrence attended recently to speak and meet folks. And at the end of January 2025, we will be hosting the Center for Swedenborgian Studies winter intercession class.
We look forward to becoming more and more active with the denomination. Over the past few years, we have tried to help both Almont New Church Assembly and the Fryeburg New Church Assembly. Even the Boston Society Wesley N. Gray Trust (a fund formed from Convention’s Gray Trust) has supported the Johnny Appleseed Museum and the Historic Preservation of the Wilmington Church. Great strides have been made, and there is more to come.
Read the full issue of the Winter 2025 Messenger
Meet Kevin Baxter
Rev. Kevin Baxter is the senior pastor at the Church on the Hill in Boston, Massachusetts. He also serves as the secretary for the Council of Ministers for the Swedenborgian Church of North America.
